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Most Recently Selected profile:

The data below comes from testmagic forums and shows accepted, waitlisted, and rejected applicants for 2007-2009 for economics graduate school. Clicking on the graph above will make the most recent profile appear to the right of the graph.

All profiles:

Acceptances:
applying07 2007:
PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Large Private
Undergrad GPA: 3.81 (Econ: 3.9, Math: 4.0)
GRE: 800Q, 560 V, 6.0A
Math Courses: Calc I-III, Lin Alg, Prob Theory
Econ Courses: Principles, Intermediate Theories, Stats, Intl. Econ, Econ Thought, Environmental Econ, Econometrics, Intl. Econ Relations, Senior Thesis

Other Courses: A bunch of other International Studies class (poli sci, sociology, etc.)
Letters of Recommendation: Associate Prof. (Ph.D. MIT) thesis advisor and teacher, Assistant Prof (Ph.D. BC) Econometrics Teacher, Associate Math Prof. Lin Alg Teacher
Research Experience: Senior Thesis, summer of consulting as an RA
Teaching Experience: Tutoring

Research Interests: Trade and Development
SOP: Probably nothing too special, described career goals, why wanted to study econ and bits about each school


RESULTS:
Acceptances:
Duke

Michigan State
Boston College
UNC-CH
Colorado

Rejections:
MIT
Northwestern
Brown

UMich
Columbia
What would you have done differently? Maybe waited a year and taken more math or worked doing a research job to fill in those gaps. Pretty happy with how turned out though Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
Zoethor2 2007:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Large public state university, no reputation in economics or mathematics. I will be the 3rd graduate ever from the economics department to pursue a PhD in Economics.
Undergrad GPA: 3.93 overall, 4.0 economics, 3.85 math
Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 780Q, 660V, 4.5A
Math Courses: Intro Calc, Intro and Theoretical Linear Algebra, Intro Proofs sequence, 2 semester Theoretical Stats sequence, 2 semester Real Analysis sequence, Theoretical Complex Variables, Intro to DiffE
Econ Courses: Intro and Advanced Econometrics, Intro and Intermediate Macro and Micro, Managerial, Monetary, International Trade, Experimental (Game Theory), 6 Independent Studies doing my own research (fun!)

Other Courses: Majored in Psych, also, so a whole slew of those, but I doubt they hugely impacted my application.
Letters of Recommendation: Very strong, but by relatively unknown professors. Two econ, one math.
Research Experience: Did about 6 independent (though overseen by faculty) pieces of research, each culminating in a paper. 2 in experimental economics, several in economics of education, and one in game theory and conflict situations. Each paper was presented at a professional conference, mostly in non-student sessions.
Teaching Experience: Was a TA for Johns Hopkins CTY for 2 summers for the Probability and Game Theory course.
Research Interests: applied microeconomics/econometrics, experimental economics, economics of education

SOP: I think it was reasonably strong. My advisors and I revised it quite a bit.
Other: Triple-majored in economics, mathematics, and psychology. This meant a lot of semesters with 6 courses, as well as taking me 5 years to graduate.

RESULTS:
Acceptances: U of Maryland (no funding), UCLA (no funding), U Michigan (no funding), Georgetown (funded), Boston College (funded), CMU's Decision Science PhD (funded)

Waitlists:
Rejections: MIT, UPenn, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Caltech, Princeton, NYU (presumably), UPitt (presumably), GMU (presumably)
(Presumably = I still haven't heard either way from these schools as of 4/12.)
What would you have done differently? I would have applied to more schools in the top 20. When all my results were in, I was choosing between unfunded offers from top 20 schools and funded offers from schools ranked below 40. I wish I had looked into and applied to more schools in the 10-30 range, where it seems I could've performed well. As I said, pretty much no one from my school has applied to graduate programs before, so I had very little information to go on as far as my chances at top programs. Overall, though, I'm ecstatic about my results. I was expecting to get into GMU, UPitt, BC and maybe one other school. Getting into UMD, UCLA, UMich was a fantastic surprise. Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
rdblots 2007:
Profile:

Gre: 800 Q, 570 V, 6.0 A
GPA: Overall: 3.86. Math: 3.96, Econ: 3.94 (Econ major with math minor)
Classes:
Math: Calc II, Multivariable, Intro Lin Alg, Diff Eq, Math Stat, Intro Proofs, Linear Algebra (A's), Advanced Calc (A-)

Econ: all the usual undergrad courses (A's). PhD Math Econ (A), PhD Micro (B+).

Type of Undergrad: Virginia Tech
Research Experience: this past summer and fall I RA'd for a professor at my school, I only did minor tasks, but it was still a pretty good experience
Teaching Experience: 3 semesters of tutoring economics (principles and intermediate micro)
LORs: All of my letter writers were encouraging and thought my choice of schools fit me well, so I am taking that to mean the letters should be decent. 1) Assoc. Prof/Head of Undergrad (PhD Stanford) who I tutored for and with whom I took a class, 2) Assist. Dean/Assoc. Prof who I worked with on my RA project (PhD Northwestern), 3) Prof., tutored his intermediate micro course, took intermediate micro and PhD Math Econ with him. (PhD Minnesota)

SoP & Interests: I talked about being interested in applied micro research. I named some professors from each school who had research that I found interesting.
Other: male/white/american. Boring.

RESULTS:
Acceptances: Funding- Duke (attending), Cornell, Boston College, UNC, UVA, Ohio State, Vanderbilt, Georgetown
No funding- Maryland, Boston U.

Rejections: Brown
What would you have done differently? I would have only applied to Duke. Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
no_time 2008:
Been free riding this forum too long. Perhaps this could be useful for someone as it has been for me.

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: industrial engineering major from top school in small, developing latin american country

Undergrad GPA: 6.3/7.0
GRE: 800q, 650v, 5.0w
Math Courses: Calculus, Algebra, Multivariable Calculus, Linear Algebra, Ordinary and Partial Differential Equations, Elements of Vector Analysis, Functions of C in C, Numerical Methods, Probabilities, Statistics, Cue Theory, Optimization, Operations Research
Econ Courses: Micro, Macro, IO, Finance Theory, Derivatives Pricing
Letters of Recommendation: 1 from a finance professor from MIT-Sloan who I'm working with as an RA, 1 from a locally well known econ prof with whom I co-authored a paper, 1 from a locally well known OR prof from my university

Research Experience: RA on two empirical finance projects for an MIT prof, co-authored 3 pol econ paper (not very relevant except for the fact that I got to work with my future recommender)
Teaching Experience: I work as a junior faculty member at my former univeristy. I've instructed Finance Theory I and II several times and have extensive experience as a TA
Research Interests: Corporate Finance, slightly biased to empirical
SOP: I highlighted the fact that I worked at an investment bank prior to my academic interest, found some interesting questions that this experience had given me
Other: International student,


RESULTS:
Acceptances: Columbia GSB Finance & Economics (attending), UCLA Anderson, CMU Tepper, London Business School, Yale SOM, Boston College (interview), UBC Sauder
Waitlists:
Rejections: MIT Sloan, Chicago GSB, Stanford GSB, Kellogg, Berkeley Haas, NYU Stern, Duke Fuqua
Pending: Harvard GSB


What would you have done differently? Nothing really, this was by far the best outcome I could have dreamt of Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
friendlyskies 2008:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Small, mid-ranked LAC
Undergrad GPA: 3.99 Business admin major, Econ minor

Grad GPA: 4.0 as non-degree math grad student
GRE: 780q, 620v, 5.0w
Math Courses: multivariable calculus, linear algebra, diff eq, real analysis (2 sem.), math stats (2 sem. w/ Casella&Berger)
Econ Courses: intro micro/macro, intermediate micro/macro, IO, statistical analysis for econ
Letters of Recommendation: 2 fed economists, 1 undergrad finance prof.
Research Experience: 3 yrs as a Fed RA, a couple undergrad publications in weak journals

Teaching Experience: TA for a couple semesters in UG
Research Interests: macro, int'l trade and finance
SOP: pretty standard...try to explain away the weaknesses and accentuate the positive. emphasized my fed research experience, recent math classes, programming abilities, teaching experience.

RESULTS:
Attending: Arizona State University
Acceptances: UVA ($$), Boston College ($$), Boston University ($$$), UNC ($$), Arizona State ($$$), Vanderbilt ($$$), Tufts MA ($)

Waitlists: UT Austin
Rejections: Maryland, Duke, Brown, Georgetown
Pending: Never heard from WUSTL
What would you have done differently? I don't think I would have done much, if anything, differently. I think I targeted the range of schools pretty well given the outcome, and I'm happy with the results. ASU is a small but growing program, and I'm stoked about the opportunity to work closely with guys like Prescott and Rogerson. I am really glad that I took a few years after undergrad to build up my resume before applying though...getting good research experience, working with well-known economists, and taking higher math classes made all the difference in the quality of programs for which I was a competitive applicant. Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
mamama 2008:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Engineering-best university in my country
Undergrad GPA: 3.31/4.00
Grad GPA: 3.7/4.00 same university economics department

GRE: 800q, 400v, 3.5w
Math Courses: Calculus I,II linear algebra, differential eq. real analysis
Econ Courses: master courses and many micro courses
Letters of Recommendation: from economics department/ applied to some without master thesis advisors LOR
Research Experience: 2 years, a published article in native language and 2 ongoing

Teaching Experience: TA for a couple semesters in UG and G
Research Interests: micro,io
SOP: standard

RESULTS:
Attending: Austin

Acceptances: Austin ($$), Boston College ($$), Duke ($$), Rochester ($$), Rutgers ($$), UIUC ($$),Pompeu Fabra($$), Tinbergen ($$), Tilburg($$), Wisconsin Madison
Rejects: Upenn,Nyu,Columbia,NW
What would you have done differently? have chose another university for master Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
wind up bird 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Large Public University, Top 50 Econ
Undergrad GPA: 3.82
Type of Grad: Masters in Statistics at same school

Grad GPA: 3.75
GRE: 800Q, 700V, 5.5AWA
Math Courses: Calc Sequence, Linear Algebra, Intro to Abstract Math (Baby proofs), Cryptology (Baby Number Theory), Real Analysis I & II, Algebra I, Lots of probability and stats.
Econ Courses: Intro, Intermediate sequences, Econometrics, Public econ, Game Theory, Asymmetric Info, Economic Anthropology, Economic History (graduate), Empirical Methods (graduate), Math camp

Other Courses: Sociology of Sexuality
Letters of Recommendation: 1 Berkeley, 1 UCSD, 1 Stanford. All apparently pretty strong.
Research Experience: 2+ Years of RAing, summer research internship at Fed, crappy honors thesis and undergrad presentations
Teaching Experience: Tutoring for intermdiate micror, TA-ing for stats (only made it to my Cornell application)

Research Interests: Micro theory, decision theory, game theory, mech. design, experimental, economic history, social choice, public economics, etc etc. Short answer is "not macro"
SOP: It was kind of bad, I'm not going to lie. Mostly I tried to demonstrate how I have been gearing myself up for research. Then the last paragraph was tailored for each school; I dropped names at all of them.

RESULTS:
Acceptances: Caltech($$$), Northwestern(WL$), UCSD(No$), BU($$$), University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign($$), UNC-Chapel Hill (?$), Boston College($$), UW-Seatte(WL$)
Waitlists: None! Awesome.

Rejections: Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Chicago, UCLA, Cornell
What would you have done differently? Besides working harder in school? Probably nothing. I have an acceptance with funding at my dream school and have some other ego-boosting admits as well.

Comments: Italos is right, LOR is everything ;)

Might as well document some of my weird admissions cycle happenings as well:


- Boston College sends me an email saying I am not being offered admission because I will get into "superior" schools.
- UW-Seattle pulls the same thing
- Northwestern rejects me, then admits me a week and a half later. Looks like my one top 10 admit really did involve a clerical error.

Attending: Caltech! Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
mjsmith1986 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Econ from small but respectable LAC with well known Econ researchers; they don't do minors but I have taken enough math to qualify for a "minor" at other schools
Undergrad GPA: 3.67 cumulative, 3.83 econ
GRE: 800Q, 590V, 5.5 AWA

Math Courses: Calc I (A-), Calc II (A), Calc III (A), Linear Algebra (A), Proofs and Fundamentals (B), Stats (A), Real Analysis I (A), Topology (A), Real Analysis II (Spring '09), Dynamical Systems (Spring '09)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): The relevant ones: Intermediate Micro (B+), Intermediate Macro (A), Advanced Micro (A), Econometrics (A), Senior Thesis (A)
Other Courses: Some political studies/physics
Letters of Recommendation: Two from Econ Profs (UT-Austin and Yale), one from Math Prof (head of Math dept.)
Research Experience: RA for Econometrics professor; Awarded summer research grant (co-authored a paper with a professor, in publishing stages); senior thesis

Teaching Experience: TA for intro micro
Research Interests: Labor Economics (specifically Economics of Education), Behavioral Economics, basically Applied Micro and Econometrics stuff.
SOP: Just talked about my research experience and interests.
Other: Applied for an NSF grant to build on some conclusions from my undergraduate thesis.

Concerns: That my Verbal score might be a little low. I was easily testing in the high 600s but I basically rushed through it on the GRE to get to the Quant. I also declared a late major in Econ (in my junior year) and have spent the last year and a half rushing to make up the appropriate math/econ courses for grad school, so I don't know whether that sends a good or bad signal to the adcomms. Also, high volume of apps this year with rather homegenous profiles.
What I would have done different: Majored in math from the start. Curse my fickle interests!
Applying to: Princeton (Woodrow Wilson School), Cornell, Brown, Johns Hopkins, Maryland, George Mason, Carnegie Mellon, Boston U, Boston College, Virginia, Duke

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Boston College ($$), Johns Hopkins ($), UVA ($?)

Rejections: Princeton, Brown, Maryland, George Mason, Boston U, Duke, CMU
Pending: Cornell (Probably rejected)

ATTENDING: Boston College

What could I have done differently?
As I said before, I would have majored in math from the start rather than rushing in my last semesters to make up the appropriate coursework. Aside from that, not much; I am pleased to have the offer that I do and am looking forward to graduate school!



Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
Zmoney 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Large U.S. Public University ranked 40-55 (best in state) typically known for Football not Economics
Undergrad GPA: 3.93 overall 4.0 in Econ 3.69 in Math Graduating Summa

GRE: 800 Q 540 V 5.0 AWA
Math Courses: Calc 1-3 1,2 tested out 3(B+), Differential Equations(B), Stat 1(A), Probability(A) Lin Alg (A) Math Stats 2 in Spring
Econ Courses: Intros, Intermediates, Public Econ, Sports Econ, Empirical Research, Independent Study (for research) Labor, Empirical Public Econ I (PhD field) All A's
Other Courses: Minors in Food and Resource Economics, and History
Letters of Recommendation: 3 LORS 2 excellent letters from pretty well known Econ faculty in their concentrations (one Phd Chicago the other Wisconsin) and 1 very good letter from a senior member of the Ag Econ Department (Purdue well known in Ag econ)
Research Experience: 2 written empirical papers one for the class in research and the other (to be my thesis) I want to get published. Database work and research at Fed

Teaching Experience: N/A
Research Interests: Public Econ, Public Choice, Taxation Policy, Political Economy
SOP: Solid i think, had multiple profs say they wouldn't change a thing
Other: Internship at the Federal Reserve, Strong Undergraduate leadership positions
Concerns: My B in Diffy Q, Coming from a big public school, No Real Analysis.
RESULTS:

Attending: Virginia
Admitted, Declined: Michigan State, Boston College, Florida
Waitlists: none
Rejections: Northwestern, NYU, Penn, Wisconsin, Michigan, Maryland, Texas-Austin, Cornell, Duke

What would you have done differently?
Started taking math freshman year as opposed to junior year. Double majored in Stats Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
eastnile 2009:
Here goes nothing.
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: U of Chicago. Econ/Physics Double Major.
Undergrad GPA: 3.5/4 - Econ, 3.5/4 - Physics, Overall 3.5/4
Type of Grad: None
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 780Q, 730V, 5.5AWA
Math Courses: Honors calc (I,II,II) A-, Real Analysis (I,II,II) A-, Adv. Prob/Stat B.
Physics Courses (well, it's mathy): Quantum Mech B+, E&M A-, Thermal/Statistical Mech A-, Fluid Dynamics B+, Honors Physics A-, Modern Physics A-, etc.
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): All your typical classes. A- Average.
Letters of Recommendation: 1 Econ Prof, 1 Physics Prof, 1 Econ PhD (Not a prof). All from UoC, all solid but not famous.
Research Experience: Working at econ consulting firm right now.
Teaching Experience: Lots of tutoring/TA-ing experience.
Research Interests: Spatial Economics
SOP: What can I say?
Concerns: GPA is mediocre.
Applying to: Reach: Harvard, UChicago, MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, NYU, U-Boston, Brown, UCSD. Match: UMich-Ann Harbor, SUNY:SB, Syracuse
Do you guys think the physics will help me? Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
DesperateEconomist 2009:
It's time to do this:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Bachelor in Business Administration, prestigious institution in Latin America.
Undergrad GPA: 7.6/10
Type of Grad: Master in Economics, same institution than undergrad.
Grad GPA: 8/10
GRE: 800Q, 490V, 4.0AWA
TOEFL: 104 (30R, 30L, 20S:crazy:, 24W)
Math Courses: Mathematics I, II, Linear Algebra, Metric Spaces, Statistics I, II, III, Mathematical Economics (grad).
Econ Courses (Masters): Macro I, II, Micro I, II, Metrics, Time Series and others not so relevant.
Econ Courses (undergrad): Macro, Micro, no Metrics.
Other Courses: Several other courses, but with small or no relevance for admission purposes.
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ professors (1 Chicago PhD, 1 UCLA PhD, 1 Cornell PhD), and I believe that all of them are solid.
Research Experience: RA for two econ professors and currently working on my master's thesis. I also presented a paper in an economics meeting in my country.
Teaching Experience: TA for two graduate courses (Macro and Time Series) and 1 undergrad course (Statistics).
Research Interests: Macro and IO.
SOP: The usual stuff: I put a brief description of my profile and talked about my preferences and why I think I would succeed in their program.
Concerns: Low score on the speaking section of the TOEFL. Maybe my math background is not as strong as desired by some schools. At least a few low grades that could hurt me.
Applying to: Berkeley, Boston College, BU, Cornell, Columbia, Maryland, MSU, Minnesota, Northwestern, NYU, UT Austin, UCLA, UPenn, Washington St. Louis, Yale. Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
Rejections:
Nymaj 2008: Type of Undergrad: Big Ten School

Undergrad GPA: overall 3.0 degree in Econ
Type of Grad: mid size university - terminal master econ program
Grad GPA: 3.9
GRE: Q 770/ V 410 / AWA 5.5
Completed Math Courses: Calc 1-2, Multivariate Calc, Diff Eq, Stats, Prob, Real Analysis
Completed Econ Courses: Micro, macro, metrics and many others

Letters of Recommendation: Strong LOR's from two Duke prof. and two strong LOR from my home university
Research Experience: One research project with professor from Michigan State University and also with an professor at Duke. Currently working on another research project.
Teaching Experience: Teach Principles of macro and also TA for advance micro and metrics
Research Interests: Alot of stuff

RESULTS:
Acceptances: Michigan, Maryland, UT-Austin, Texas A&M, Rice, Houston,

Waitlists:
Rejections: Brown, Duke, Boston College, Iowa
Pending: Cornell

What would you have done differently? Should have listen to my professors and drop some lower ranked schools and applied to Yale and Harvard for kicks.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
pdilly 2008: Type of Undergrad: BA from a less prestigious liberal arts college
Undergrad GPA: 3.75
Type of Grad:

Grad GPA:
GRE: 770M/590V
Math Courses: Cal I-III (A's), Linear Algebra (A), Applied Stats (A), Probability Theory (B). Taking Differential Equations this semester.
Econ Courses: A's in Macro I, Intermediate Macro, Intermediate Micro, Urban Econ, Labor Econ, American Econ History, Law and Economics, B's in Micro I and Regional Econ.
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: Very strong, but not from well-known professors. My best came from my statistics prof, who is also the dean of natural sciences.

Research Experience: None
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Urban, applied Micro
SOP: Not especially strong. I have only a vague Idea of what I want to do at this point.
Other:


RESULTS:
Acceptances: Syracuse ($$), UConn (MA only, at this point)
Waitlists:
Rejections: Texas, Boston College, Brown, Carnegie Mellon, UC Boulder
Pending:

What would you have done differently?

I probably shouldn't have aimed quite so high... I didn't have much of a shot at BC and Texas. I would have applied to more schools in the 40-60 range.

I'm actually putting off grad school for a little while. Syracuse agreed to hold my offer till next year, and I'm going to work on improving my resume. I'm taking advanced cal and complex analysis at my dinky liberal arts college in the fall, and I'm planning to transfer to UT-Austin in the spring to take real analysis and econometrics, among other things. Hopefully I'll be able to work some research experience in at some point too.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
econphp06 2008: Type of Undergrad: Business Major, Economics Minor
Undergrad GPA: overall GPA: 3.33 (bad freshman year, excluding freshman it is 3.55)
GRE: 800Q, 330V,AWA 4.0
Math Courses: Math for Econ I-II (AA)Calculus I-II (CB), Differential equations (CB), Linear Algebra (BB), Operations Research (AA), Decision Support Systems( AA)

Econ Courses: Int. Micro-Macro, Econometric, Financial Markets Institutions etc..
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ prof and 1 math prof
Research Experience: RA for 3 months.
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Financial Economics, Financial Econometrics, Econometrics.

SOP: ok.
Concerns: Not having great grades and math courses

RESULTS:
Attending: CEMFI Master in Economics and Finance ($$)
Acceptances: CEMFI Master in Economics and Finance ($$), University of Houston Economics Phd, North Carolina State University Econ Phd, Washington State University Econ Phd($$), UPF Msc Finance, Vanderbilt GPED, Central Michigan MA Economics

Rejects: University of Virginia Econ Phd, Boston College Econ Phd, Purdue Econ Phd, Carlos III MA
What would you have done differently? Studied in freshman year, applied only masters programs...
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
Texcards 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Minor Economics and Math at very large state school (top 15 engineering, top 50 economics)
Undergrad GPA: 3.35/4.0 (3.65 Math, 4.0 Econ)
Type of Grad: None
Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 800Q, 550V, 4.0AW
Math Courses: Calc I-III(A,B,A), Differential Equations (B), Linear Algebra (A), Mathematical Probability and Statistics (A), Fund Discrete Math (Spring 09)
Econ Courses: Principles of Micro and Macro (A, CR by exam), Intermediate Micro and Macro theory, Econometrics (A,A,A)
Other Courses: Lots of engineering
Letters of Recommendation: 2 not well known assistant econ professors (UT-Austin, Rice) but excelled in their classes, 1 associate engr professor (Berkeley) that I went on a study abroad trip with

Research Experience: none
Teaching Experience: none
Research Interests: International and Development
SOP: Paragraph about why I wanted to do econ even though I did engineering as an undergrad, another on my interests, and another on why I wanted to be an academic. Slightly altered my interests paragraph depending on the school, but for the most part the same for each one.
Other: Didn’t start considering this until fall of last year.

RESULTS:

Acceptances: UC Riverside (Fellowship), University of San Francisco MA in International and Development Economics (1/2 tuition remission + TA), UC Davis, University of Washington, UC Santa Cruz, Colorado, Oregon, UI-Chicago
Waitlists: Oregon fellowship, eventually notified of no funding
Rejections: Maryland, Boston University, Boston College, UT Austin, Michigan State, Georgetown, UBC MA
Pending: Toronto MA, Queen’s MA

What would you have done differently?
I wouldn’t have applied to the Canadian MA’s (1 year wouldn’t have been enough to help me), Michigan State, UCSC, or UI-Chicago and maybe applied to a couple more reaches instead, but I really didn't think I would get into as many as I did. I don’t know if it would have changed anything though, after really thinking about it I think an MA is a very good choice for me. I’ve realized that my 3 economics courses hasn’t given me enough of a background in general economics knowledge. Yes I could learn it in the course of a PhD but I think strengthening my economics background will allow me to have more focus on what field I want to go into and give me more ideas when I eventually start to write my dissertation. An MA will also allow me to improve 3 big weaknesses in my profile: (1) Do some research which will allow me to have (2) stronger LOR’s and (3) a more focused SOP.

I think I learned a lot in this application process and feel like I will be able to put together a much better application in 2 years after an MA.

Attending:
University of San Francisco MA in International and Development Economics
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
tmdruie 2009: So I can get on the shiny charts!


PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Physics and Economics from a top 10 liberal arts college
Undergrad GPA: 3.14/4.0
Type of Grad: One stats class
Grad GPA: 3.3

GRE: 790Q, 600V, 5.0AW
Math Courses: Calc I-III(I took them in high school, I really don’t remember and nor do my transcripts), Linear Algebra (B), Mathematical Probability and Statistics (B-, B), Real Analyst(A, at a different school then my undergrad), Stochastic Processes (B+, grad course, at a different school then my undergrad)
Econ Courses: AP Micro and Macro (A, in high school), European Economic History (B+), Law and Economics (B), Intermediate Price Theory (B), Intermediate Macro Theory (B), Econometrics (B), Contemporary British Economy (B), Industrial Revolution-Britain (A-), Econ of Multinational Corps (A-), Thesis (labor econ)
Other Courses: Physics, which I put in my math lists. Quantum Mechanics I, Partial Differential Equations (B+), etc. I only did the bare minimum for a liberal arts major
Letters of Recommendation: 2 econ professors (my thesis advisor and the person who led my study abroad), 1 physics professor (thesis advisor), 1 economist who is my supervisor

Research Experience: RA for 2.5 years at ‘a central bank’
Teaching Experience: Tutored, graded and lab assisted for two years for physics in college
Research Interests: All over the place. Labor, policy, experimental, applied micro, development, etc.
SOP: Intro, I did physics I can do math!, I wrote a thesis in economic and liked doing research, I’m working as an RA and like doing research, I took extra math and can write proofs, I was part of an econ paper reading group and like reading papers, interests (changed a bit depending on what the school had, and more policy oriented for ag econ schools). Also a few sentences about things I did that I removed or added depending on the school. The 500 word schools were hard, the 1000 word schools were easy. I also had a Personal History Statement about being a female doing math for the schools that wanted it.
Other: Applied for the NSF. I tried not to say anything to risky, and not say much about interest in policy to non policy/ ag econ schools. I like Aikido.


RESULTS:
Acceptances: Boston University (waitlist for $), Michigan State(no $), University of Essex (ISER), Ohio State (Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics) ($-Fellowship), Indiana University ($-TA), Iowa State University ($-TA)
Waitlists: University of Minnesota
Rejections: MIT, Harvard (Econ and Political Economy and Government), Yale, Berkeley (Agricultural & Resource Economics), Northwestern, NYU, U Penn (Econ and Wharton), University of Wisconsin – Madison (Econ and Agricultural and Applied Economics ), Columbia, Brown, Cornell, Caltech, University of British Columbia , Ohio State, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor (Econ and Public Policy and Economics), University of Maryland (Econ and Agricultural Economics), Boston College, Johns Hopkins, University of Minnesota (Applied Economics), University of California – Davis (Econ and Agricultural Economics), Duke, University of Essex, Vanderbilt, Rutgers, Carnegie Mellon (Econ, Department of Social and Decision Sciences, Public Policy and Economics)
Pending: Toronto MA, Queen’s MA


What would you have done differently?
Gotten better grades in undergrad. When I really started understanding what the things I need to do for a PhD I think I did the best I could, took real analysis, applied for the NSF (if only to write a SoP for them), read papers etc. I probably could have gotten more research experience at my job (co-author), and I defiantly could have gotten better grades and taken more math as an undergrad. But over all I’m happy.

Attending:
Boston University
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
Waitlists:
EconCandidate 2007: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Small, relatively unknown private university in the northeast.
Undergrad GPA: 3.65 (3.83 in Econ and Math)
GRE: 800Q/550V/4.0A
Math Courses: Intro Calc (A), Calc of Single Variable I (A-), Calc of Single Variable II (A-), Calc of Several Variables (A-), Integral Calc and Differential Equations (A), Linear Algebra (A-), Numerical Analysis (A-), Advanced Calculus (A), Intro to Real Analysis (A), Math Stats and Probability I (A), Math Stats and Probability II (In Progress)

Econ Courses: Honors Principles of Micro (A), Honors Principles of Macro (A), International (B+), Money & Banking (A), Intermediate Micro (A), Intermediate Macro (A), Law & Economics (B+), Public Finance (A-), Game Theory (A), Econometrics (In Progress), Advanced Public Policy Thesis (In Progress)
Letters of Recommendation: From 3 professors who knew me extremely well. I can't imagine they could have been any stronger.
Research Experience: Completed a summer research project about the term structure of interest rates. Currently working on a senior thesis about funding for public education.
Teaching Experience: Certified Level III Tutor. Math and Econ tutoring experience. Teaching Assistant for Intro Calc and Calculus of a Single Variable II.
Research Interests: Public Finance, Game Theory, Applied Micro.

SOP: Discussed my math preparation, research project, teaching/tutoring experience and my goals.

RESULTS:
Acceptances:
University of Wisconsin-Madison ($) (Attending)
University of Virginia ($)
Waitlists:
Boston College

Rejections:
University of Chicago
Yale University
Northwestern University
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
University of Rochester
Duke University
University of Maryland-College Park

Brown University
The Ohio State University
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign

What would you have done differently?
My experience suggests that this process is incredibly random. I ended up with funding at a program that is clearly top 12- top 15, and got rejected outright by many programs that were not ranked as highly. Don't rule out any programs that you have been admitted to, because you never know what can happen, even at the last minute! Overall, I should have tried to improve my overall undergradaute GPA and scores on the other sections of the GRE, because coming from an unknown university probably hurt my applications some. Additionally, I would have tried to complete more research as an undergrad. A combination of these factors might have made my applications considerably less random. The best advice I can give people is that a high GPA, high GRE Math, and an extensive math background are the norm for applicants, and they are minimum preparation to be an appealing candidate. These do not seperate you from the pack any more. In the end though, no regrets at all.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
econ2007 2007: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: medium (roughly 30,000 students) public university

Undergrad GPA: 3.55 overall, 3.83 economics GPA
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 800Q / 580V/ 6.0AW
Math Courses: Calc I (A), Calc II (B+), Calc III (C+), Applied Linear Algebra (C+), Numbers and Polynomials (D+), Elementary Differential Equations (C), proof-based Linear Algebra (B)
Econ Courses: Honors Principles of Microeconomics (A), Honors Principles of Macroeconomics (A), Banking Financial Markets and Monetary Theory (A), Intermediate Micro (A), Intermediate Macro (B), Games and Decision (B), International Trade (A), Economics of State and Local Govt (A-), Intro to Econometrics (A)

Other Courses: audited PhD Macro I
Letters of Recommendation: undergraduate advisor and professor in two classes (PhD from UNC-CH), econ prof for intermediate micro and macro (PhD from Carnegie Mellon), econ prof for econometrics (PhD from Carnegie Mellon), math prof for proof-based LA (PhD from NYU)
Research Experience: started a senior thesis, but not completed.
Teaching Experience: tutored all four years of undergrad
Research Interests: micro theory, applied micro, labor, environmental, bioeconomics
SOP: started with a template, and tailored each SOP to each schools interests and strengths (as long as there was some intersection in interests). THEY DO READ YOUR SOP.

Other: out of school for 2 years

RESULTS:
Acceptances: FSU, UGA, Colorado at Boulder, UC Irvine
Waitlists: UNC (r*jected later), Illinois (r*jected later),Boston College, Pitt
Rejections: UWashington, UTexas, UNC, Illinois
What would you have done differently?

Let me preface by saying that my original plan was to go to law school. I didn't seriously start thinking about economics PhD until late junior year. Take as much math as possible, with good grades.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
JAlfredPrufrock 2007: Profile:
Gre: 770 Q, 560 V, 5.0 A
LSAT: 156

GPA: Overall: 3.51, Econ: 3.85, Math: 3.61, Majors: Economics and Mathematics
Classes: (all undergrad- highest grade is A)
Math: Calc II(B+) Calc III (B-), Calc IV (B+), Dif EQ's (B), Foundations of Math (A), Mathematical Statistics I (A-), Math Stats II (A), Math Stats III (A-), Math Modeling and Optimzation (A-), Statistical Computing (A), Matrix Theory (A), Linear Algebra (B), Advanced Calc I (A), Advanced Calc II (A), Elementary Point Set Topology (A-)
Econ: Intro Macro (A), Intro Micro (A), Intermed Macro (A), Intermed Micro (A), Advanced Micro (A-), Advanced Macro (A-), Econ Stats (A-), Econometrics (A-), Public Finance (A-), Game Theory (A), Economics of Heath Care (A), Environmental Economics (A).
Type of Undergrad: Medium Sized Mid-West State University
Research Experience: One year Research Assistanship for Econ Faculty memeber, 1 year+ Research Assistanship for small think tank with ties to econ department (ongoing)

Teaching Experience: University hired tutor in Math (2 years), Supplemental Instruction for Principles of Micro and Macro (3 yrs)
LORs: Econ professor (PhD Florida State) who taught me Public Finance and Econometrics. Econ Prof (PhD Rochester), who taught me Econ Stats, Game Theory, and Health Care Economics. Math Prof (PhD Bowling Green) who taught me Math Stats I, II, III and Statistical Computing.
SoP: Mentioned my research interests and how each school was a good match.
Interests: Econometrics, Law and Economics, Applied Micro, I/O.

Admissions Decision Results

Admitted: UVA (no funding), UW-Seattle (No Funding), George Mason (No Funding), Florida State (Generous Funding)
Waitlisted: Boston College
Rejected: MIT, NYU, Duke, Vanderbilt (Law & Econ), UCSD, UC-Berkeley, UI-UC, Brown.
Never Heard Back From: WUSTL

Heading to: Florida State.

What would I have done differently? I would have gone to a more prestigious undergrad institution if I had realized what a handicap not going to one would be. Also I would have started caring about my grades a lot earlier, and studied for the GRE and LSAT. Also I would have applied to more mid-level schools. I knowingly applied to alot of reaches, just on a lark.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
3ohto4oh 2009: Type of Undergrad: B.A. Economics, large top 25 U.S. Public research university
Undergrad GPA: 3.0 (rounding up LOL)
Type of Grad: M.A. Economics, terminal degree within department

Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 790Q, 570V, 5.0AWA
Math Courses: Calc I-II (AP credits), Math Stats (A), Discrete Math (A), Math for econ (undergrad and grad, A, A)
Econ Courses: Tons. Sloppy undergrad grades, All A's in MA.
Other Courses: Random stuff like Japanese

Letters of Recommendation: 3 professors of econ
Research Experience: MA thesis, submitted for publication (fingers crossed!)
Teaching Experience: Tutoring
Research Interests: Macro, applied macro, forecasting.

SOP: Suggested a couple of potential research topics.
Concerns: No serious math courses hurt me in applications, could make things more difficult in my studies.

RESULTS:
Attending: City University of New York, Graduate Center. $18k "Enhanced Chancellor's Fellowship," guaranteed for 5 years.
Admitted, Declined: American U ($-WL), Northeastern U ($$), Suffolk U ($), and the New School (¢)

Waitlists: Boston C, U Washington, U North Carolina, Georgetown U
Rejections: Johns Hopkins U, U Maryland, Boston U, George Washington U, Michigan U

What would you have done differently?
Very happy with this outcome. I spread my applications far and wide, so I am sure that I got into the best program that I could have - and then I fell in love with CUNY on a campus visit. As for advice to others, I have a huge hole in my transcript where there should have been upper-level math courses, and I should have corrected that.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
thursday 2009: Here we go. At least, one more data point for this. :p
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. in business administration. Top uni in the country, though not (well) known internationally.
Undergrad GPA: 5/5. (Highest distinction, unofficially. I wish it were in econ/math at a better undergrad university.)
Type of Grad: M.A. in economics (two-year program) at a solid economics school with a reputation of placing good students in good American/European PhD programs.
Grad GPA: 3.44/4. (After the 1st year.)
GRE: 790Q, 520V, 3.5AW. (Me knows writing good.)
TOEFL: first time: 106 (20S); second time (because of 20S): 107 (23S). (Basically, I wasted $. And, yeah, me does speaking good too.)
Math and Econ Courses, all in all: one-year sequence of grad micro, macro, metrics, and math for economics. Almost no (at least, not that relevant) econ/math as an undergrad. Plus on-going electives in misc economics (e.g. IO, and the like).
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ professors: 1 quite well known prof. (Cornell PhD), 1 well published associate prof. (UPF PhD), 1 assistant prof./my thesis adviser (UMD PhD). Not sure about the strength of the letters.
Research Experience: on-going thesis, nothing else.
Teaching Experience: nil.
Research Interests: macro, growth, political economy of development.
SOP: nothing special, I think.
Concerns: I wish I had done some econ/math instead of business staff as an undergrad. Plus, too low grades (PhD-application-wise) in relevant grad courses.
Other: ~
Applying to: UMD, JHU, Penn State (reaches for me, I think), BC, IUB (targets?), UH (a real target, I guess?).
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists: